San Tirso de Abres, Asturias: municipality guide

San Tirso de Abres (San Tiso d’Abres in Eonavian) is a municipality in western Asturias, in the middle valley of the river Eo and right on the border with Galicia. Its capital is El Llano. With 396 inhabitants and 31.41 km², it is one of the smallest municipalities in the Principality: a single parish (San Salvador), fertile floodplains along the Eo and gentle slate mountains. In 2011 it received the Exemplary Town of Asturias Award.

What to see in San Tirso de Abres

El Llano, the capital, sits on the Eo’s alluvial plain and concentrates the municipality’s services and shops. There stands the parish church of San Salvador, with an 18th-century stone altar in the shape of a niche, a Baroque Immaculate Virgin and a 17th-century Descent from the Cross in a glass urn. The capital also preserves the palace of Amaido —of the Santisso family, whose surname gave the municipality its name— and the 16th-century palace of the Count of Altamira, known as O Pacio.

El Llano, capital of the municipality of San Tirso de Abres. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Carmenmoran (CC BY 4.0)

The municipality keeps three hillforts (castros): Castro de Castro, devoted to farming; Castro de Eilale, linked to iron mining; and Castro de Salcido, with a small slate staircase leading to an acropolis and a walled enclosure over three metres thick. Next to the palace of Amaido rises the 16th-century church of San Juan Bautista, with a curious tradition of healing rites linked to a stone boundary marker. In Prado, the chapel of Santa Elena keeps a 17th-century altarpiece and a polychrome birch-wood pulpit.

View of San Tirso de Abres. — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / JCNazza (CC BY 3.0)

The river Eo, a salmon river, crosses the municipality from southwest to northwest and forms very fertile floodplains; the Xunqueira peak (664 m), on the Arredondas ridge, is the highest point. It is one of the municipalities where Eonavian (Galician-Asturian) is spoken, and rural tourism —country houses and sport fishing— gains ground every year thanks to the improved N-640.

Getting there

The N-640 national road is the main communication route: it crosses the municipality and connects it with Lugo and the Cantabrian coast (Ribadeo), with local roads branching off it to link the villages.

Map of the municipality of San Tirso de Abres: the capital, in gold. Data © OpenStreetMap (ODbL).

Festivals and gastronomy

The main festivals are San Isidro Labrador (15 May) and San Juan Bautista (24 June), both in El Llano. The calendar is completed by El Carmen in Lourido (16 July), San Roque in Espasande and the Fiestas del Veraneante in El Llano (August), and San Miguel in La Antigua (September). Every village celebrates its traditional romerías, with open-air dances and local gastronomy. The Eo, as a salmon river, is also a draw for sport fishing.